Radio-Info.com by Tom Taylor: [email protected]/609.883.3321 Monday, July 28, 2008 A marriage made in heaven

Satcasters XM and Sirius “flagrantly violated FCC rules” – but can merge. Commissioner Deborah Tate held out for fines against the only two SDARS licensees – much more for XM than Sirius – but ultimately contributed the necessary third “Yes” that made the merger a partyline vote. Radio-Info.com had the news up for you on the front page Friday evening along with the bones of the settlement. There’s a consent decree that XM and Sirius signed along with accepting the nearly $20 million in fines, and it relates to the past violations the NAB and some consumer groups have been harping about. Like the in-car receivers that were knowingly sold despite problems with leaking audio to nearby vehicles. And the ground-based repeaters that most satellite subscribers don’t even know exist, but which are necessary in some areas and which sometimes weren’t built where they were supposed to be. Sirius signed off its questionable repeaters while XM kept going – one of the reasons XM’s paying more than $17 million in fines. Mel Karmazin of Sirius and Gary Parsons of XM also agree to conditions such as a three-year cap on prices to subscribers and a speedy roll-out of interoperable receivers. Late Friday, Tate got what she wanted from Chairman Kevin Martin, and he’s now sure “the merger is in the public interest and will provide consumers with greater flexibility and choices.” More about XM+Sirius coming up in today’s T-R-I. But first -

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Dallas radio’s a real soap opera, involving Pugs & Kelly, Cindy & Robert, Russ Martin… And mucho speculation. Middayers Pugs & Kelly (John Myron, Kelly Mohr) left CBS Radio’s “Live 105.3” KLLI last week and were supposedly spotted over at the Cumulus complex. That’s intriguing, say the posters on the Dallas board of Radio-Info.com, since Cindy Scull and Robert Miguel are just recently out at Cumulus-owned “Bone” KDBN (93.3). So – Pugs & Kelly to mornings there? And – there’s enough cyber-speculation to fill a good-sized thumb drive about what happens next with Live 105.3 kingpin Russ Martin. He’s facing charges in a domestic dispute and shaking up some hardcore fans with the graphic allegations by his fiancée (who may’ve had a tape recorder running during their encounter two weeks ago). Yesterday’s Dallas Morning News says GM David Henry is still running best-of shows, and can’t say when or if Martin will be back in his chair. Read Dallas Morning News writer David Tarrant’s front-page, above-the-fold Sunday-edition piece here. KLLI’s own webpage describes Martin’s afternoon talkshow as “the driving force of Live 105.3.” But if he’s sidelined and midday talents Pugs & Kelly are gone – well, those are enough plot points for Days of Our Lives, wouldn’t you say?

Michael Savage loses his copyright lawsuit against CAIR – and Cleveland affiliate WHK. The TRS personality probably saw his suit against the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a longshot – but he was infuriated that CAIR was employing a four-minute clip from his October 29, 2007 syndicated show to raise money for the purpose of attacking him. CAIR claims (no way to know) that its boycott has cost the Savage show $1 million in advertising. So what did Savage say on the show? That Muslims are “screaming for the blood of Christians or Jews or anyone they hate.” He also called the Qur’an a “hateful little book” – and you can search for various Savage videos about Islam on YouTube. Which pretty much predicts the tone that U.S. District Judge Susan Illston took on Friday: If you hear something that’s publicly-broadcast, you can have fair use of it. And she said no evidence had been produced to justify the claim of economic harm from the boycott. Savage cited the RICO statute and said the Islamic group isn't a true civil rights organization, but a political group with some nasty friends. But it’s not over for Savage: his attorney Daniel Horowitz tells the San Francisco Chronicle over the weekend that his client may try again on the racketeering angle. (The judge suggested that might be legally possible.) Meanwhile – Salem-owned Savage affiliate WHK (1420) tells the Plain Dealer’s Julie Washington it’s had enough of him and is dropping the show. GM Mark Jaycox says “this guy’s a knucklehead and I want to get rid of him.” That comes after the TRN- syndicated host went on a rant about how kids are victimized by the diagnosis with autism. Though as of last night, Savage was still on the WHK homepage at Salem’s TownHall.com.

The man with the shotgun was killed by police right in front of WTLR, State College. Brian Neiman wanted to tell his story, and what a story – he’d just barged into a nearby car dealership with a loaded shotgun saying he needed gas money (says the Centre, PA Daily Times) so he could drive to Christian non-com WTLR (89.9). His purpose was not to do violence there, but to get on the air (with the aid of the shotgun?) to speak about an alleged conspiracy involving drugs. He claimed the FBI and the police weren’t taking his calls, and his ex-wife says he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and could've become paranoid if he didn’t take his meds. The story ended in a Friday morning shootout just in front of the station at 2020 Cato Avenue, where Neiman was intercepted by police. Station Manager Mark VanOuse says they’d turned off the lights, locked the door and moved the staff away from any outside-facing windows or rooms. But soon they could hear “the roar of the Bronco.” Neiman pointed his Ford Bronco at the officers, drove it into a patrol car, and fired out of the vehicle’s window. Police confronted him there because the son of the car dealership owner had the sense to call both the authorities and the radio station. (Imagine what the next minutes at WTLR were like?) Main thing for Way Truth Life Radio (the origin of the call letters) is that they’re okay – as VanOuse assures listeners in a most remarkable account, on the website.

Washington, D.C. Spring Arbitrons: WHUR’s 7.3 share blows away the field. Ratings maven Chris Huff tells me “it’s not so much a surprise that urban AC WHUR is back at the top, but what a jump they show. It’s been four years since any station in D.C. has had a share that high. WPGC had a 7.3 back in Summer ’04, and you have to go back to 1985 to find the last time WHUR was in the 7- share range.” #2 in the latest 12+ standings – by the width of a microphone cord – is FM all-newser WTOP (6.5- 5.9). It’s just ahead of urban AC “Majic” WMMJ, which had its own nice jump (5.1-5.8). See Washington, Baltimore, Cleveland, Akron, Hartford (soft AC WRCH is out of double digits) and more at the Ratings page of Radio-Info.com, here.

Clear Channel is hurrying up its dealings with Lotus, in Las Vegas, Bakersfield and San Antonio. CC – about to go private on Wednesday and needing to keep the DOJ happy - is swapping away FMs in Las Vegas (“La Preciosa” KWID at 101.9) and Bakersfield (country KBKO-FM at 96.5) to gain San Antonio-market classic rocker KZEP (104.5) from Howard Kalmenson’s Lotus Communications. Of course the object of all this is for Clear Channel to shed “La Preciosa” in Vegas. We’d expected this all to close around September 1 and the weekend news out of Bakersfield – that KBKO’s playing its last Alan Jackson or Kenny Chesney tune tonight – probably reflects an LMA and not a closing. But you wonder what else will be happening out of this three- market exchange, format-wise. (Most folks expect Lotus to do something other than country with the 96.5 in Bakersfield.) What I’ve heard about San Antonio’s KZEP is that the format will likely remain, but there may be cutbacks on the talent side. As for the other three markets the Department of Justice focused on last February – Cincinnati, Houston and San Francisco – the selected stations there will almost certainly be going into a trust. Still nothing about whether the Cincinnati divestiture would include Door #1 – “Big One” WLW (700) and “Kiss 107.1” WKFS – or Door #2 – classic rock “Fox 92.5” WOFX and hot AC WNNF (94.1). Hard to imagine Clear Channel giving up WLW, though. The Radio-Info.com Central California board has details on today’s farewell broadcasts of Big D & Bubba at KBKO-FM, with dropbys featuring former DJs.

Advertisers who want to buy a lot of online radio have a new choice – Katz Online Network. Talk about aggregating – the deal to be announced this morning offers not only stations from Katz parent Clear Channel. Nope, stations owned by Bonneville, Cumulus, Cox, Emmis, Entercom, Greater Media, Journal, Nassau and Salem are in there, too, because they’ve already got a national rep relationship with Katz. And in what Katz calls a first, the new Online Network is simultaneously offering ad space in independent Internet radio names like AccuRadio, Club 977, Energy Group Radio, FineTune, radioIO and SmoothJazz.com. Air America content’s in there, too – so the resulting bag of online avails is really bulging. Brian Benedik at Katz 360 Sales says “major advertisers and agencies now have a simple way to plan, purchase and optimize the best of the growing online digital audio audience, spanning AM, FM, syndicated and independent Internet radio.” The ad-selling chores will be handled by Katz 360 Sales, Clear Channel Online Music & Radio and CC-owned Premiere Radio Networks. Looks like the focus is on the sweet spot of online radio – 6am-7pm workplace listening.

Now back to XM+Sirius: From Day 1, the debate produced two diametrically-opposed sides. #1, Has the “audio entertainment” marketplace changed so drastically since the FCC granted two licenses in 1997 that the agency should approve the deal, because of the multitude of competitors? Or as the NAB argued, was it - #2 - a case of black and white. The 1997 licenses came with the clear proviso that the two companies were to remain separate and could never merge? (Sort of What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?) XM and Sirius fans couldn’t believe anybody would object to such an obvious move that would help the business survive. And broadcasters didn’t earn any brownie points with those people – or with Wall Street. The NAB decided early on that it had to make this a big fight, and David Rehr threw a bunch of resources into it. Some radio group heads weren’t so concerned, because they’d noticed that satellite radio hasn’t become the Godzilla that ate their industry. In fact – XM and Sirius arguably are sitting on a transitional technology, and I’m not the only one who’s been saying that the mobile Internet is right there in its rear-view window. (Of course wireless broadband also poses an historic challenge to local AM and FM radio.) But NAB spent millions battling the merger on Capitol Hill, at the DOJ and the FCC. Over the weekend, ABC News that “the approval was a huge blow for the land-based radio industry” – an appraisal that comes partly out of the NAB’s public opposition. But the odds were always against the NAB. In the end, this is still a Republican-run FCC, and the Bush Administration’s generally been business-friendly in terms of mergers.

Check what Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth says about the satellite merger. He’s “disappointed” and strongly disagrees with the FCC call on XM+Sirius. But listen to this: “I am confident that free radio will continue to be the local connection to our listeners, the most reliable source of information, entertainment and support in our communities, and the most innovative and powerful marketing vehicle for our advertisers. Those are qualities that satellite radio – a national, subscription-based service – can never achieve.” Sometimes attacking something tooth and nail can make it seem bigger than it really is, by building it up in the popular imagination. (I’ll leave it up to you to fill in some recent examples from international politics.) The truth that local radio people – particularly salespeople – have had to patiently explain to clients and friends is that satellite radio’s had virtually no impact on local radio’s advertising picture. (Hey, two decent-sized radio stations outbill either XM or Sirius in ad revenue.) After the companies raised and lost over $6 billion and promoted themselves on TV, billboards, stadium signs and at almost every audio retailer on the map, less than 5% of radio listening reported to Arbitron is to satellite. The challenge now is for AM/FM radio to be just as innovative with the marketing and programming tools they already have – but aren’t using to full advantage. Radio has bigger things to worry about than XM+Sirius. Got your own opinion? I’m at [email protected].

The satellite merger “undermines public radio.” That’s what NPR interim CEO Dennis Haarsager stated over the weekend, and he says “this new monopoly” wields “unprecedented control over spectrum and without the mitigating conditions we sought.” Those include forcing HD Radio into future satellite receivers. Commercial radio’s spent a lot of time agonizing over the slow adoption of HD, but the other side of the story is that individual public radio stations – often with government financial help – have made significant investments in HD technology. Public radio’s had a complicated relationship with XM and Sirius from the beginning. Haarsager says “NPR, other public radio producers and public radio stations have had long and mutually-beneficial relationships” with both XM and Sirius. NPR’s own internal Big Issue is that its own interests and growth prospects may cut across those of member stations, who don’t want much of their content shared on other platforms. But almost everybody in public radio’s got a stake in HD. There’s apparently an olive branch in Friday’s decision – the Wall Street Journal’s Amy Schatz says the FCC will issue a Notice of Inquiry about whether future satellite radio receivers should carry HD circuitry, so they can pick up local HD signals. Not analog signals, just the digital signals, which would theoretically spur more stations to think about going HD. Arbitron Spring 2008 Quarterly Ratings

9. Washington, DC - 4,210,000 21. Baltimore - 2,255,100

28. Cleveland - 1,782,400 50. Hartford - New Britain - Middletown - 1,048,200

74. Akron - 598,100 79. Stockton - 561,400

86. Springfield, MA - 528,500 100. Visalia - Tulare - Hanford, CA - 463,900

108. Modesto, CA - 427,800 112. Worcester, MA - 418,300

118. Santa Rosa, CA - 405,700 152. Fredericksburg, VA - 296,400*

180. Merced, CA - 217,900 190. Manchester, NH - 199,800

191. Cape Cod, MA - 199,100 198. Chico, CA - 189,800

228. Redding, CA - 158,500

Click on the city to review recently released ratings. View a complete list of Arbitron markets here. *Subscribers only listed

Wheeling and Dealing: In Trenton, Millennium finds a buyer for one of the AMs it’s trying to sell – WBUD (1260). Yes, T-R-I believes Charlie Banta’s outfit would like to spin some other Garden State AM properties, and the late-March format change at this one – from its longtime format to “Fox Sports Radio” – may’ve come around the time they really got serious about finding a buyer. (Though it probably made sense for competitive reasons, given the switch-around in local sports programming.) WBUD’s the little sister of talk/oldies hybrid “New Jersey 101.5” WKXW, which has literally been out-billing some nearby big- city stations such as WABC, New York. WBUD’s next move will be to convert to non-commercial status and do lay-Catholic programming for new owner Domestic Church Media Foundation. The buyer’s based just across the Delaware River in Bucks County, PA and it’s headed up by James Manfredonia. He tells Newsday they’ll lean heavily on programming from the Alabama-based EWTN, the home of Mother Angelica. This is the foundation’s first radio purchase, though it’s an applicant for a future non-commercial FM in Roosevelt, NJ. That’s about 20-25 miles East, as the crow flies, from Trenton. WBUD’s power is 5-kw daytime and 2500 watts at night, and Millennium’s getting $2.3 million for it.

In Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY, Vox closes on its $11 million purchase of seven stations from Clear Channel. This big regional group (WCPV, WEAV, WXZO, WEZF, WVTK, WCVR and WTSJ) was originally lumped with more than three dozen other markets that GoodRadio was poised to scoop up in a $452 million deal that cratered. I believe these Burlington/Plattsburgh stations were the first of out of that collection to find a new buyer, and that's Vox Communications (Bruce Danziger, Ken Barlow, Keith Thomas). Brokers: Kalil & Co. for seller Clear Channel, and The Mahlman Company for buyer Vox. A Radio-Info.com Northern New England board poster says Barlow may be the new market manager and that the staff seems psyched about the new owner.

Buzzing on the Radio-Info.com boards: Boston’s Barry Scott – familiar from his “Lost 45s” shows – tells his side of the story about what happened when he was deejaying a house party in Provincetown, MA last year and the cops showed up. That led to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest and disturbing the peace, a competing claim of excessive force used by the police, and a just-concluded jury trial in Orleans District Court – and Barry (Barry Scott Turkowitz) tells his story here.

Tulsa listeners wonder what happened to jock Eric Wayne at Journal’s “Big Country 99.5” KXBL – and whether that leads to more programming originating outside the station.

Atlanta reports that “after being silent for nearly five months, WYAY-HD2 now has audio again.” So Citadel’s got the “Eagle” country brand back on, somewhere, after ditching it on 106.7 to go “True Oldies”, with Don Imus.

Sound Bites: On the Delmarva peninsula, Great Scott’s WKHW, Pocomoke City, VA (106.5) is dark, after an LMA suddenly implodes. Owner Great Scott has already requested FCC permission to turn off the transmitter, reports the VARTV.com site. The licensee reports it’s in a dispute with its “business partner in a long- standing time brokerage arrangement that resulted in the abrupt termination of the relationship.” The classic rocker had been LMA’d out to Bay Broadcasting – and Great Scott says its options now include hooking up with “a local non-commercial broadcast station”, to provide some programming.

So why is Salem swapping the WWDJ call letters that have been on the New York-area 970 for decades? They’re going to Boston and will be affixed to the former WTTT (1150), still doing Spanish- language programming. Salem’s obviously got some logic behind the move – as they did with the call-letter switch that put “KDOW” on a new business-leaning format in San Francisco, and placed the San Fran calls in Seattle on the former KNTS.

Faces on the Radio: Brett Favre could be on the radio – and not in Green Bay – if he accepts the timely offer of a morning radio gig from Saga’s “Star 102.5” KSTZ in Des Moines. Big Ken and Colleen are dangling a one-week contract that would include a personal driver and car, “his own dental and health office, and concierge services.” Their tongues are planted firmly in their cheeks, but this old promotional bit (Jacor made a specialty of it) should cost Star nothing and give the morning show hours of fun. Colleen Kelly says “Brett Favre in the studio? Co-hosting our show? Yummy. He plays football, right?”

Bill Pugh, who didn’t want to leave his San Diego base while he was programming Sporting News Radio for Clancy Woods up in Los Angeles, finds a very compatible job right there in San Diego. He’s the new OM for Clear Channel there, working with stations like CHR “Channel 93.3” KHTS-FM. If I haven’t mentioned it in a while, Bill’s part of a distinguished broadcasting family that includes Daniel Patrick Pugh – who uses just his first two names on a professional basis.

Michael W. Perry and Larry Price observe 25 years both at one station – KSSK-AM/FM, Honolulu – and at the #1 spot, 12+. They succeeded the legendary Jay Akuhead Pupule in 1983, and Clear Channel Hawaii director of programming/ops manager Jamie Hyatt tells T-R-I “they pulled a 21.4 share in the Winter 2008 book. There will be a huge celebration for them on August 9 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki with top entertainers from all over Hawai'i.”

Duncan Lively has the honor of being the first-ever separately-named station manager for radio, at the Inland Empire’s non-commercial TV/radio combo of KVCR (91.9) and KVCR-TV. He’s a veteran of TV news and has recently been working elsewhere in public radio. The News Mirror says it’s the first time in 54 years the operation’s had a dedicated manager for radio in Riverside-San Bernardino.

Dave Graveline understandably put his “Into Tomorrow” syndicated show into best-of last week, because of the passing of his mother, Noella. Our sympathies go out to the family.

Mel Karmazin probably worked all weekend on the XM+Sirius merger. This should be a hair-raising couple of days, and the news may include some defenestrations at Eckington Place, XM's home (though nothing fatal). Mel's got to start creating the promised hundreds of millions in cost savings and from the inside, it probably won't be pretty. More in Tuesday's T-R-I, Taylor on Radio-Info - and enjoy your Monday. Tom Your Email Options You are receiving this email at ##insert_email_here## because you subscribed at radio-info.com for the Taylor On Radio- Info newsletter. Stop Receiving this Email | Start Receiving this Email | Send Feedback

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